The Asia Roundtable on Food Innovation for Improved Nutrition (ARoFIIN) was established in January 2015 to leverage public-private partnerships and bring together experts from across government, academia, industry and civil society, to initiate and sustain a regional, multi-stakeholder dialogue on the role of food innovation in tackling obesity and chronic diseases.

ARoFIIN is convened by the Health Promotion Board (HPB), the Agency for Science, Research and Technology (A*STAR), the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS) and Food Industry Asia (FIA).

ARoFIIN News

"Tackling obesity in ASEAN"- ARoFIINfollow-up workshops

Taking key findings on obesity in the region from the “Tackling obesity in ASEAN: Prevalence, impact and guidance on interventions” report, ARoFIIN has hostedrespective in-country follow-up workshops over the past few months, in order to discuss and develop sustainable interventions among multi-sectorial stakeholders.

Outcomes were based on recommendations for interventions focused on nutrition education for children. A report, collating detailed outcomes gathered from allfollow-up workshops, will be distributed next month.

The next follow-up workshop will take place in Quezon City, Philippines, on 5 December 2017.

An Integrated Approach to Solving One of the Region's Biggest Health Challenges

In an effort to tackle the growing burden of malnutrition around the region, ARoFIIN brought together experts from government, academia, civil society and industry, for a dialogue session on Partnerships to Promote Healthy Eating and Active Lifestyle in Asia – held in partnership with the Responsible Business Forum on Sustainable Development 2017 in Singapore.

To invest in a better future, in which all forms of malnutrition are addressed, all stakeholders across multiple sectors must come to the table: by stepping out of their comfort zones to bring about change, focusing on concrete impact while building trust and creating win-win solutions, and ensuring usage of an inclusive and transparent data system, said Ms Gerda Verburg, Assistant Secretary-General at the United Nations, and Coordinator of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement.

The inaugural EAT Asia-Pacific Food Forum brought together leading stakeholders from government, industry, academia and civil society to assess the state of food systems, and discuss both innovative and sustainable solutions to improve food security, sustainable use of natural resources, and health and nutrition among populations in Asia.

On the occasion of World Obesity Day on 11 October 2017, ARoFIIN convener Food Industry Asia (FIA) reflects on the growing public health issue of obesity, and how partnerships between the public and private sectors can deliver successful outcomes to deal with the problem.

Multi-sectoral Partnerships and Dialogue Much Needed to Combat Obesity

To address the public healthcare burden of obesity, a paradigm shift in focus and strategies is needed, says Mr Matt Kovac, Executive Director of Food Industry Asia (FIA), an ARoFIIN convener. This includes more attention being placed on preventive measures, better education on healthy nutrition that leads to positive behaviour change, as well as multi-stakeholder partnerships and knowledge exchange.

As part of our ongoing efforts to foster multi-stakeholder partnerships and cross-sectorial knowledge-sharing, toward the ultimate goal of improving health and nutrition in Asia, the ARoFIIN Secretariat recently established a presence on LinkedIn. Through this platform, we will share key news updates and information on relevant events around the region.

Malaysia’s health and education government ministries are working together to produce a training module to control the problem of obesity among students. Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said the training modules would also serve as guidelines for Physical Education teachers in monitoring their students’ diets and eating habits.

In this opinion piece, Assoc. Professor Dr Visith Chavasit, Director of the Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University, highlights how Thailand, like other parts of Southeast Asia, is seeing a rapid increase in prevalence of the obesity epidemic. The country faces the second highest rate of obesity among its population, at 8.5 per cent – just under Malaysia’s 13.3 per cent.

In this opinion piece, Professor Dr Hardinsyah Ridwan, professor of nutrition in the Faculty of Human Ecology (FEMA) at Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), and president of the Food and Nutrition Society of Indonesia (Pergizi Pangan), discusses the obesity epidemic in Indonesia and recommends ways to combat it in a holistic manner.

Results from a New Zealand study show that a pioneering healthy lifestyle programme for kids and teens dealing with obesity, as gathered from tracking a sample groupfor 12 months,has resulted in physical and emotional health gains.

Governments commit to reduce suffering and deaths from non-communicable diseases

Heads of State and Government and ministers from around the world, as part of the Montevideo Roadmap 2018-2030 on NCDs as a Sustainable Development Priority,committed to new and bold action to reduce suffering and death from NCDs, primarily heart and lung diseases, cancers and diabetes - the world’s leading killers.

Asians may be more prone to diabetes due to reduced ability to produce insulin

Singaporean researchers from the National University Hospital (NUH), in collaboration with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, have found that the inability to produce enough insulin could be the reason that Asians are more prone to Type 2 diabetes than their Western counterparts.

The 2017 Global Hunger Index (GHI), released by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), combines four hunger-related indicators -- the proportion of undernourished people in the population, the prevalence of wasting in children under the age of 5, prevalence of stunting in children under 5, and the mortality rate of children.

The Asia Roundtable on Food Innovation for Improved Nutrition (ARoFIIN) was established in January 2015 to leverage public-private partnerships and bring together experts from across government, academia, industry and civil society, to initiate and sustain a regional, multi-stakeholder dialogue on the role of food innovation in tackling obesity and chronic diseases.

ARoFIIN is convened by the Health Promotion Board (HPB), the Agency for Science, Research and Technology (A*STAR), the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS) and Food Industry Asia (FIA).

ARoFIIN News

Launch of the "Tackling obesity in ASEAN: Prevalence, impact, and guidance on interventions" report

Together with The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), ARoFIIN launched the report in Singapore on 1 June 2017. Report launches and related discussions then followed in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines across the next two months, as detailed in the stories below.

Beyond dialogue, multi-stakeholder action isneeded to develop solutions in addressing the challenges ofobesity and malnutrition in ASEAN. Stay tuned for upcoming workshops to be held across the region.

Obesity in ASEAN: A call to action

The newly released “Tackling obesity in ASEAN: Prevalence, impact, and guidance on interventions” report states that across the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), obesity rates vary widely depending on ethnic, genetic, regional and economic differences, as well as socio-economic drivers such as specific social and cultural norms.

Incidence of obesity and overweight is increasing rapidly in Southeast Asia. Today, with between 20 to 35 per cent of adults overweight, obesity is reducing productive (working) life by an average of four to nine years, while the total (direct and indirect) costs of obesity can amount to as much as US$10billion in Southeast Asia, according to a report released today by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Systems-level changes to encourage healthy living, and a shift in mindsets of parents, employers and the private sector, are needed to tackle the pressing problem of overweight and obesity in Singapore, says Professor Chia Kee Seng, Dean, Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore.

Malaysia, among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 6, has the highest obesity and overweight prevalence – 13.3 per cent and 38.5 per cent of the population, respectively. To address this public healthcare burden, a paradigm shift in focus and strategies, with more attention to preventive healthcare; consumer education; and multi-stakeholder partnerships and knowledge exchanges are needed, says Dr Tee E-Siong, President of the Nutrition Society of Malaysia.

To address the grave problem of obesity and related lifestyle diseases in Malaysia, government is working with the food industry, educational institutions and civil society, says Dr Chong Chee Kheong, Director of the Disease Control Division at the Ministry of Health Malaysia.

Nutrition knowledge among Malaysians needs to be translated into action and practice, says Professor Dr Norimah A. Karim, Vice President of the Malaysian Association for the Study of Obesity (MASO). To tackle obesity, health education should start at a young age, in order to embed good dietary and physical activity habits in lifestyles.

The Philippines battles a double burden of malnutrition – while obesity and overweight affect 18 million Filipinos and costs between four per cent and eight per cent of national healthcare spending, an estimated seven million children in the country still face hunger and under-nutrition. Consumer education, dietary and physical activity interventions among schoolchildren, and public-private partnerships are critical in addressing these challenges, says Dr Mario V. Capanzana.

Thailand faces the second highest obesity prevalence in Southeast Asia at 8.5 per cent, based on the recently launched “Tackling Obesity in ASEAN: Prevalence, impact, and guidance on interventions” report. Speaking with the Secretariat of the ARoFIIN, Associate Professor Dr Visith Chavasit, Director of the Institute of Nutrition at Mahidol University, discusses the issue of a rising obesity rate in Thailand, and the opportunities for public-private partnerships to tackle the problem.

To share lessons from significant progress in Thailand’s work to eliminate hunger and undernutrition in its country, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and Mahidol University recently conducted the South-South Learning Workshop to Accelerate Progress to End Hunger and Nutrition for a range of stakeholders from Africa and Asia, in Bangkok, Thailand.

National Day Rally - one in nine Singaporeans has diabetes; problem “very serious”, says PM Lee

With about 400,000 Singaporeans diagnosed with diabetes, Prime Minister (PM) Lee Hsien Loong, in the National Day Rally 2017 speech he delivered on 20 August 2017, urged Singaporeans to take action to control and guard against diabetes, such as by getting regular health checks, exercising, eating healthily, and cutting down on sugar intake.

Coca-Cola, Nestlé and PepsiCo are among seven beverage manufacturers that have signed a pledge committing to reduce the amount of sugar across their soft drink product ranges sold in Singapore – to 12 per cent or lower by 2020. This move emphasises efforts taken by industry players to provide consumers with healthier food options and encourage healthier lifestyles, and serves as part of a wider set of interventions needed to address the challenges of diabetes and obesity.

Singapore’s war on diabetes: Changing eating habits of Malay, Indian communities an uphill task

To win against the war on diabetes, described by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as a “health crisis” for Malays and Indians in his National Day Rally speech, the local Malay and communities have been urged to change the way in which they prepare their cultural dishes, which often contain high levels of oil, salt and sugar.

The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Health Price Tag, published yesterday in The Lancet Global Health, estimates the costs and benefits of progressively expanding health services in order to reach 16 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) health targets in 67 low- and middle-income countries, which account for 75 per cent of the world’s population.

The United Nation’s World Food Programme (WFP) is seeking to improve the nutrition of 1.9 million children and women in war-torn Yemen by delivering targeted supplementary feeding programmes in the Middle East's poorest nation.

Following the successful launch of the "Tackling obesity in ASEAN: Prevalence, impact and guidance on Interventions" reportin Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and thePhilippines in June and July 2017, ARoFIIN now plans to hold a series of half-day workshops in cities in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

The aim of these workshops is to bring government, academia, civil society and the food industry together to develop actions that can berecommended,as a group, topolicymakers as a means of tackling the double burden of malnutrition.

The International Hybrid Rice Symposium (IHRS) is a quadrennial event convened by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), in partnership with a host country that provides an international discussion platform on hybrid rice development. The event brings together public institutions and private organisations from different countries engaged in hybrid rice research and development.

The Asia Roundtable on Food Innovation for Improved Nutrition (ARoFIIN) was established in January 2015 to leverage public-private partnerships and bring together experts from across government, academia, industry and civil society, to initiate and sustain a regional, multi-stakeholder dialogue on the role of food innovation in tackling obesity and chronic diseases.

ARoFIIN is convened by the Health Promotion Board (HPB), the Agency for Science, Research and Technology (A*STAR), the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS) and Food Industry Asia (FIA).

ARoFIIN News

Innovation and partnership to address health and nutrition challenges in Asia

ARoFIIN had its third annual roundtable on 27 April in Singapore. Kicked off with an introduction by Bruno Kistner, ARoFIIN Secretary, the event featured presentations by representatives from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Singapore’s Health Promotion Board (HPB), Taylor’s University and BioAnalyt GmbH.

ARoFIIN has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), which was carried out during ARoFIIN’s third annual roundtable event on 27 April in Singapore, where Dr V. Bruce J. Tolentino, IRRI's Deputy Director-General (Communication and Partnerships), was in attendance.

“We are delighted to have IRRI on board as a knowledge partner,” said Bruno Kistner, ARoFIIN Secretary. “IRRI is the competence centre for all rice-related matters, and I look forward to the tremendous value IRRI research and expertise will bring to our work and discussions to improve human health and nutrition, while tackling obesity and non-communicable diseases.”

Food innovation is a global mission

What kind of team spends 60 days traveling around the world in search of not just the best food, but also a global perspective on innovation?Meet the delegates of the Food Innovation Global Mission (FIGM) – 14 students who hail from countries and fields of studies far and wide to study about the development and diffusion of radical innovations in the food industry.During their stop in Singapore, the students took part in a Design Thinking Workshop that was held in conjunction with ARoFIIN.

In Asia, malnutrition – or lack of proper diet and nutrients – affects millions of children, severely limiting their potential. While there has been some progress on reducing malnutrition, a combination of global trends – climate change, economic uncertainty and volatile food prices – is putting the future progress on tackling malnutrition at risk.

The Food Science & Technology Programme (FST) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) organised its annual NUS-FST Industry Day on 12 April, where students had the opportunity to present their final-year projects and engage with representatives from the food industry and government agencies.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released several reports on its efforts to implement health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets, improve data on causes of death, and combat adolescent obesity in Europe and high mortality rates in adolescents.

China tops the world in terms of number of adults living with diabetes - 109.6 million as of 2015; and another 40 million could join the ranks by 2040, unless preventative steps are taken. Scientists are hunting for new strains of rice – beyond refined white rice – that would help to avoid increases in blood sugar.

An estimated seven million children across the Philippines suffers from serious malnutrition. This problem is largely driven by inadequate access to nutritious food, lack of nutrition education, as well as poor health and sanitation services.

Herbalife, a global nutrition company, has released the findings from its Asia Pacific Balanced Nutrition Survey, which focuses on shedding light on nutrition and health habits, as well as behaviours and attitudes of consumers aged 18 and above.

A health expert has said that undernourishment is one of the leading problems in South Asian countries, as Indian children in their second growth spurt, or during adolescence, do not get the required protein amounts with their daily diets.

A review has shown that fortifying wheat flour used in making instant noodles has the potential to improve nutrient intake in Asia. With a growing demand for processed food items such as instant noodles in the region, researchers have said there is a strong case for fortification.

South-South Learning Workshop to Accelerate Progress to End Hunger and Undernutrition

Date: 20-21 June 2017
Venue: Bangkok, Thailand

The International Food Policy Research Institute's (IFPRI) Compact2025 initiative is organising a South-South learning event in Bangkok to promote knowledge exchange. The overall objective is to share lessons learned for the improvement of policies, programmes, and integrated solutions for accelerating progress in ending hunger and undernutrition.

This South-South Learning event will bring together multi-disciplinary and multi-sector representatives from selected Asian countries including Bangladesh, China, Thailand and Vietnam, and selected African countriesincluding Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Tanzania, to share important lessons learned.

Hi China, Fi Asia-China & Ni 2017

Date: 20 - 22 June 2017
Venue: SNIEC, Shanghai, China

Hi China is the must-attend event for anyone looking to grow their business in China. Since its launch in 2003, the show has continuously developed and played a significant role within the growing food, beverage and health sectors in China and beyond. Ever-increasing international visitor numbers, together with the many educational opportunities at the show, have contributed to its success as a leading international trade platform in Asia.

The Asia Roundtable on Food Innovation for Improved Nutrition (ARoFIIN) was established in January 2015 to leverage public-private partnerships and bring together experts from across government, academia, industry and civil society, to initiate and sustain a regional, multi-stakeholder dialogue on the role of food innovation in tackling obesity and chronic diseases.

ARoFIIN is convened by the Health Promotion Board (HPB), the Agency for Science, Research and Technology (A*STAR), the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS) and Food Industry Asia (FIA).

ARoFIIN News

What can rice scientists offer to a sugary world?

The global rise in modern lifestyle diseases calls for urgent attention to diet-based nutritional interventions across the entire socioeconomic consumer spectrum, says Nese Sreenivasulu, Head of Grain Quality and Nutrition Centre, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). The solution, he said, can be found in diversifying into more food products with greater health benefits.

45RICE is a social enterprise dedicated to improving lives through nutrition. With the motto “fortifying every meal”, 45RICE brings essential vitamins and minerals to a bowl of rice, turning empty carbs into healthy carbs.

Although the world has made advancements toward the elimination of hunger, malnutrition rates have only improved marginally and continue to result in stunting and wasting, particularly in key Asian economies. Improving of access to nutritious food intake can start at the food production stage, through food fortification.

More so than infectious diseases and other traditional healthcare issues, obesity is fast becoming the top risk factor targeting public health. As the issue grows in Asia, a unique public-private partnership is driving food innovation to tackle obesity in the region.

Study: Understanding ethnic differences in abdominal fat distribution at birth could lead to better guidelines for maternal lifestyle and nutrition

A Singaporean team has studied more than 300 infants and found that the amount of abdominal fat they carry varies depending on ethnic background. This may be the first step in establishing a link between abdominal fat in newborns and disease later in life.

Food Future Asia Award now open for start-up companies in food and agtech

With a rising middle class, changing food consumption patterns and land scarcity, we need new solutions to improve food productivity in a sustainable way. The Food Future Asia Award is now open for participation of start-up companies in the food and agricultural technology sectors.

High incidence of lifestyle diseases leading to growth of low-calorie food market

A rise in obesity and diabetes rates worldwide is leading to greater demand for low-calorie food. Growing at a CAGR of 5.9 per cent between 2013 and 2019, the global low-calorie food market is expected to reach a value of US$10,414.7 million by the end of the forecast period.

Professor Michael J. Gibney, Emeritus Professor of Food and Health at University College Dublin (UCD), rebuts an opinion piece by Robert Lustig, an American paediatric endocrinologist, on how the development of processed food was a failed experiment.

A local study on over 63,000 Chinese Singaporeans has found that diabetics are three times more likely to die from severe liver disease - fatty liver disease (FLD) being the most common cause - than those without the condition.

The FAO’s 2016 Asia and the Pacific Regional Overview of Food Insecurity – Investing in a Zero Hunger Generation report examines the problem of malnutrition that leads to obesity and hidden hunger, as well as the challenges faced in addressing these issues.

The forum will feature the theme “Global Innovation, Powering Future”, to explore how the F&B industry can utilise innovative developments in the new-normal market. FBIF is committed to providing insight into the industry’s future trends for decision-makers, in the hope of boosting sound development by showcasing the most successful business cases and innovation-driven thoughts worldwide.

The summit will gather delegates from across the functional food and nutraceutical industries. Participants will discuss topics such as the regulatory environment, changing dietary structures and distribution strategies in Southeast Asia.